Sonia Blanchard and the Lost Demigod
by sannenin
Summary: The Great Prophecy of the Seven has been fulfilled. Life for the old heroes starts to settle down... Until there is a sighting of a bronze dragon flying overhead. As the quest to find Leo begins, something evil starts brewing. How will Sonia, and other new demigods, handle being thrown into old drama as well as possibly a new and scary prophecy?
1. Sonia I

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Sonia**_  
><strong>I Get the Deadliest Detention Ever<strong>

**Hey guys! Welcome to my first ever fanfiction... Of DOOM! Nah I'm just kidding. Anyway, please don't hate and please give me a chance. I'm new to this sort of stuff, so please please PLEASE feel free to review and give me tips. Also I would love to work with fans so if there are any couples or characters (maybe even OCs!) that you want to see here please do let me know. Anything else... oh yeah! Don't forget to let me know what couples you DON'T want to see. Being a reader like you I come across many couples I absolutely despise while reading fan fictions, so please let me know which ones you don't wanna watch. Phew! That is the most talking you will EVER hear from me. Okay I'll quit bothering you so you can read. So review, follow, favorite, and yeah... Ciao!**

Okay guys, if you think being a demigod is fun, take it from me, it is NOT.  
>Of course if you like having to constantly fight for your life and run from monsters, then a demigod life is for you.<br>Just to let you know, while you're reading and you feel a surge of power or a roar blasts from behind you, take off sprinting because, congratulations, you're a demigod!  
>My journey began in the worst way possible (without any beautiful girls warning me; you are so welcome).<p>

Of course I had to spend the afternoon of my twelfth birthday in detention.  
>I've been getting in detention a lot lately.<p>

You tell me though. How was I supposed to know how the school bully ended up flattened to the ceiling, or how somehow the lunches of the popular girls had exploded in their faces? Anyhow, let's just say I had memorized every detail of this white-tiled, yellow-walled hallway.  
>I stepped into the classroom that the after-school detention always takes place in, and I was greeted with two new faces.<br>In the back of the classroom, a teenage boy, who seemed around the age of fourteen, slouched down in his chair. He wore a gray hoodie with a black skull on its front. He had his hood up, and it covered slightly long, messy, dark hair. His dark brown eyes scanned the room. This was strange. Normally I was the only person in detention.  
>Then there was the teacher. Instead of my normal detention teacher, (boring, dreary, old Mr. Hastens) I saw a burly man with a lack of hair and an eyepatch. He had written his name on the blackboard: Mr. Gar.<br>"Ah, there's our other student!" said Mr. Gar. "Have a seat!" He smiled a broken-toothed smile.  
>I sat down uncomfortably. Mr. Gar's voice sounded eerily like my principal's voice; the same principle that hadn't appeared at school this morning. Plus that, the boy in the back of the classroom cast an evil eye at Mr. Gar. That guy's evil eye was the scariest thing I had ever seen, like the eyes of death were staring down the teacher.<br>"Where is Mr. Hastens?" I asked. "Is he sick?"  
>"Mr. Hastens went on a small trip. His business should not concern you," Mr. Gar smiled his yellow grin again. The boy clenched his fists, slinked forward as silent as a shadow, and sat down next to me. I shuddered.<br>"Now while Mr. Hastens is preoccupied I will be the new... How do I put it? I will be the new teacher of your detention," Mr. Gar said. "But first I would like to get to know my little students. So, you!" He pointed at me without hesitation. "Come with me!"  
>I gulped down my nervousness and followed him. He led me out into the hallway and marched down to the principal's office. His footsteps were extremely loud.<br>Oh great. How did I get in trouble in detention, of all places? I didn't even think I did anything wrong!  
>"Sir, why are we going to see the principal? What did I do?" I asked the teacher. As I said this his one eye sparkled. Was his eye always so close to the middle of his face?<br>"The principal is busy at the moment," Mr. Gar said. "We will only be using his office to... talk." The way he said "talk" made me want to run back to the classroom and hide. I quickened my pace.  
>We slipped into the office. Mr. Gar closed and locked the door, making me more uneasy. I sat down in front of the principal's desk.<br>"So," he said, sitting down across from me. "What did you do to get in detention?"  
>"I didn't do anything!" I snapped defensively. Mr. Gar frowned.<br>"Really?"  
>"... Okay fine. I may have accidentally buried the popular girls in dodge balls."<br>"Wait, what did you do?" The huge man's eye widened.  
>"I don't know what happened! The dodge balls moved on their own!" I raised my hands and flinched.<br>"I believe you," Mr. Gar said. His voice had become eerily soft.  
>"You... Do?"<br>"Yes. Now, do you have any phobias?"  
>"What are those? If they're a disease I don't have them. I have ADHD."<br>"Phobias are very strong fears," Mr. Gar explained, but he didn't seem interested in the question anymore. He stood up, clenching his fists.  
>"Well, I do have a horrible fear of... What are you doing, sir?" My explanation of my deathly fear died in my throat as Mr. Gar put a weird look on his face.<br>"Why my dear," the bulky man grins his banana tooth grin. "Thank you for cooperating so nicely. It makes my job so much easier."  
>Mr. Gar started to grow. His muscles and height became enlarged to an inhuman size. He rips off his eyepatch. That's where I swear I could've fainted. He only had one eye in the middle of his face.<br>"Holy..." I let loose a string of swear words.  
>Mr. Gar plucked a stick out of his pocket which grew into a wooden club. He leered and said, "Why don't you join your beloved teacher and principal, my dear?"<br>Suddenly the door was smashed down.  
>The boy burst into the scene. He was wielding a pitch black sword. Okay that's it, I'd gone crazy.<br>His pale face paled even more, if that was possible, as he saw the big one-eyed man. He turned to me and fixed me with his dark eyes. His fists seemed to be wreathed in shadows.  
>"Are you okay?" he asked.<br>"Yeah, but what in the name of all things holy is that?!"  
>"I will explain that later. I'm sorry your satyr left at the last minute. He probably would have warned you about this, but his wife was giving birth."<br>"My WHAT?" My words were drowned out as Mr. Gar roared and stomped towards us with his one eye gleaming with rage.  
>"Sorry can't talk right now!" The boy turned to Mr. Gar so quickly his hood flew off, revealing his messy black hair.<br>"I have to give you credit, boy," snarled Mr. Gar. "You may have detected me quicker than any goat-man!"  
>"I've been to Tartarus and back. I've kinda learned how a cyclops, or any monster, behaves," the boy smirked.<br>Did he just say tartar sauce? Did he just say "cyclops"?! My head was spinning. Suddenly the cyclops lunged at me. I was so lucky my instincts kicked in.  
>I dodged with speed that could not possibly be my own, and swiftly pulled on Mr. Gar's club, flinging it across the floor.<br>Then, the boy leaped forward, sword drawn. He punched the cyclops in the stomach with one shadowy fist and stabbed it in its one eye with a single, precise stroke of his black sword. Mr. Gar roared in pain.  
>The boy grabbed my wrist.<br>"Hey! Don't touch me!" I snapped, trying to pull my hand out of his grip. This kid hadn't creeped me out any less than that monstrous cyclops or evil tartar sauce.  
>"Nico Di Angelo," Nico smiled and introduced himself. That kid had the creepiest smile ever. "Pleased to meet you too. Now time to go."<br>Nico held on to my wrist and dove into the shadows (no, literally INTO the shadows) and vanished, taking me along with him.


	2. Sonia II

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Sonia**_

The Prince of Death Goes Shopping for Cupcakes

I am a Minnesotan through and through, and all Minnesotans gotta love the infamous Mall of America. The amusement park/mall/"perfect place to host every birthday party" from ages one to seven held a special place in my heart. It also became the "happy place" I would think about in tough times. Basically, thought about MOA at least five times a week. Unfortunately, I lived several hours away from Minneapolis, so I hadn't gone to the Mall in forever, with emphasis on FOREVER.

Shadow travel is not advised for anyone who have recently had surgery, a baby, or a life, and is not recommended for anyone younger than the age of dead. It is freaking scary, man! The darkness, the pale spirits slipping in and out of your vision, and the wretched wailing; if I had access to my voice, I would have wailed louder than any of the dead things swooping around me. Seriously. I literally saw my life flash before my eyes.

_ Think of your happy place, think of your happy place,_ was going through my head frequently during this journey. I ignored it until the third ghost passed through my stomach.

I thought up a storm about the fun rides in Mall of America that I had fallen in love with, especially this one roller coaster with a swift and steep drop.

Suddenly, we slipped out of the shadows. I was about to ask someone to pinch me.

Nico and I had landed in a heap on the floor of a gigantic indoor amusement park. I looked around, seeing roller coaster tracks criss-cross overhead and rides zooming around their tracks in every corner. Behind me, a roller coaster dropped swiftly and steeply, causing all the riders to scream.

"Wait, what in the world did we just do?" I muttered in a daze with my jaws gaping stupidly.

"I'm a son of Hades. I can do a ton of stuff with darkness and death."

I jumped to my feet and swung my fist in self-defense, punching Nico square in the jaw. I had forgotten he was there.

Did he say son of Hades? Everything was just so crazy that part of me took that as if that statement were as normal as a statement could be. The other part of me said that this guy is a total nut-job and was deeply satisfied watching Nico rub a red spot on his jaw, where I had given him a solid whack on the face.

"You still didn't answer my question. Why and how the heck did you take me to Mall of freaking America?" I snapped at Nico. "Aren't we running from a crazy one-eyed criminal or something?"

Nico flushed red and cursed under his breath.

"Well, what were you thinking about when we were shadow-traveling?" Nico asked as he stood up and turned to me.

"Shadow traveling?" Oh, "shadow traveling". So that's what happened. We had "shadow traveled". Then, it was my face that turned a bright red this time.

"Err… Mall of America?"

"Then that's why we're at, what did you say? 'Mall of freaking America'."

Nico looked around.

"Well, it's not the worst place to get stuck at…" I said, slightly defensively.

" Luckily, you're right. Yeah, this might actually work. C'mon, we're going shopping."

Then, something hit me.

"Hey, hold the phone, mister!" I growled. "You owe me an explanation!"

"Shopping is more important right now."

"WHAT?"

He's gotta be kidding me. Shopping? Is Nico even a guy? Shopping?

"You expect me to just accept what has just been going on without an explanation, and follow a complete stranger around a massive mall, going SHOPPING?!"

"First of all, I did tell you my name and save you from a cyclops. That should count at least as an informal introduction."

"Not a very good one!"

"Second of all, we have to get you armed. It isn't very safe to leave you without a weapon this long."

"You really think that I believe you?"

"I will explain everything very truthfully once we are in a safe spot. Plus, I think that a part of you does trust me and understands what your priorities are at the moment."

I fell silent. Half of me really did believe most of the things he told me, no matter how crazy everything seemed.

"Let's go," Nico said, putting use to my silence by grabbing my hand roughly. He started to drag me unceremoniously towards the shopping area.

"Ow!" I complained. "I can walk on my own you know."

"Well, prove it by starting to act mature enough to do so."

"Excuse me?"

"Just come on!" Nico loosened his grip, but he continued to walk forward in an annoyingly fast pace.

"Ugh, fine." I allowed myself to be dragged along behind him.

Nico stopped in front of a small, shabby, cupcake shop.

"Cupcakes? You are keeping your well owed explanation from me… for CUPCAKES?!" I roared.

"What, I suppose when you aren't hungry after a battle I can't be?" Nico said, displaying mock innocence on his face.

"Maybe you are a boy, always thinking about food first…" I sigh under my breath.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

Nico stepped into the doorway. As I was about to follow in suit, I noticed one minor little detail.

"Uh, genius! The sign says it's closed," I called out.

"We are not here for the cupcakes for crying out loud."

"But you said…"

"Would you just trust me and follow?" Nico had already disappeared into the back of the shop.

"Wonderful, I'm putting my life in the hands of a teenage nut-job who likes rummaging through abandoned cupcake stores," I grumble to myself as I jog to catch up to him.

The storage room of the cupcake store was messy, cramped, and all in all a place that seemed like it had not been touched by a human being for centuries.

"Dude, this stinks. LITERALLY," I whine. "It reeks like moldy frosting."

"Would you quit complaining?"

"What if I don't feel like it?"

"Ugh, whatever. You are not worth wasting my breath over."

"Hey!"

Nico sighs and shakes his head. He then reaches down and opens a metal trapdoor in the corner of the room. Smooth, pitch black stairs lead downwards, seemingly forever.

"Ladies first," said Nico.

I stuck my tongue out at him like a five-year-old and started my descent.

The stairs did not go on as far as I thought they would. It only took thirty seconds to enter the room at the bottom of the staircase.

I must have held my breath for at least as long as it took to get down there once I entered the room. I had never seen such a room.

It had a surprisingly high, black and silver arched ceiling and glittering silver walls. There were black, silver-lined shelves with a large assortment of shining bronze and gold weapons. A beautiful obsidian counter that was neatly carved stood proudly in front of the entrance.

"Happy birthday," said Nico, appearing from the dark stairs with a smug smile on his face. "They may not be cupcakes, but they're extremely useful. Why don't you go look around and take your pick? And… there doesn't seem to be any cupcakes around, so I won't be eating anything here, just to prove that boys do NOT always think of their stomachs first."


	3. Sonia III

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Sonia**_

I Go Shopping for Deadly Weapons

I only had to look around for one minute, when I saw it: the perfect weapon for me. I ran to the blade and picked it up, feeling a surge of power. We went in and were out in five minutes flat. Pfft, I WISH. It took, like, three flipping hours of me picking up and swinging various assortments of weapons clumsily and totally wrecking the "Hephaestus' Hidden Crafts" many shelves of deadly, pointy stuff.

Nico snuck up behind me for the tenth time, carrying a dagger in hand this time. "Here, try this one out. It's a Celestial bronze dagger that was designed by a group of Hephaestus' first apprentices in the earliest years of Greece."

"Gah! Dude! Do not creep up on me like that!" I had leaped up and flung a golden spear at a shelf, which in turn hit it and knocked down five other spears.

"Sorry," he said unsympathetically, as he shoved the dagger into my arms. "Now take a stab at it."

"Oh ha ha. Very punny," I muttered, accidentally whacking another shelf with the dagger. "And haven't we already tried out, like, five daggers or something?"

"Those five were made of Imperial gold. This is Celestial bronze."

"Oh what's the difference?!"

"Imperial gold is Roman. Celestial bronze is Greek."

"Wow, that changes everything."

"Fine, I get it, dagger use is not for you," Nico said with a sigh. "The problem is, spear use isn't for you either, and spears and daggers are the only things in stock at the moment."

"Wait, I thought this store was supplied by people making these weird weapons ALL OVER THE WORLD?"

"Yeah, they do, but it looks like since the war against Gaea ended, the apprentices of Hephaestus and all the other blacksmiths seem to have become a little lazy."

"Ugh."

"Well, if there is nothing else in stock, I'm sorry to say that you may have to use a dagger or a spear for a little while."

"Double ugh."

I looked around the room of weapons. Nico was dead serious when he said there were only spears and daggers in stock. The lack of variety was kind of disappointing. The lack of effort made by some of the weapons' crafters was pretty disappointing, too. One of the daggers literally looked like a sharpened bronze stick like a sharpened, bronze stick, tied to a beat up wooden handle by dirty, old string.

"I get to die by a teacher who is secretly a one-eyed giant while wielding a broken stick in my hands. Happy birthday to me." I picked up the sorry rod of bronze and turned it over and over in my hand.

"You know, we might actually find something interesting if you help me look."

"We have been here for hours!

"Do you think I don't know that?"

"I'm hungry!"

"So now you're hungry?"

"Yeah. Can we go to the Food Court or something?"

"We can't go anywhere without arming you first. You never know when or where we might run into monsters, since we won't be getting to a truly safe spot in a while."

"Triple ugh…"

"Quit whining, I hear something," Nico snapped.

I had heard the sound too, and had shut up long before he told me to. The clanking sound in the back of the room was pretty loud and obvious, so the only valid excuse for not hearing it would be either if you are deaf or a completely ignorant airhead. All of a sudden, two shelves in the back shifted apart, revealing a huge, mechanical door. The door opened, and a robotic humanoid figure trooped in, carrying a box about three feet long. It scanned the room, making a strange whirring noise, until its bright red eyes rested on the counter in front of the staircase. The humanoid marched over, set the package on the counter, and then marched back through the door, which shut automatically behind him.

"Err… So this Hephaestus dude. Instead of having elf-peoples like Mr. Santa Claus, he has creepy robot thingies do all his deliveries?"

"First of all, Hephaestus doesn't supply this shop, even though the name says otherwise. His apprentices do as well as a bunch of other aspiring blacksmiths."

"Aspiring blacksmiths, huh? Blacksmithery. Sounds totally not boring and stupid at all!"

"You are infuriating. And the robotic delivery system is actually pretty new." Nico started heading toward the counter to check out the delivery. "That's weird. Normally it would be delivered by the maker."

Nico picked up the package and opened it up. Inside was a distinctly different weapon from the ones we had seen in the room.

It was a sword, for one thing. It was a long, sleek, pitch black sword with intricately carved designs on its elegant handle. Both sides of the handle were carved to look like magnificent, black, eagle wings. Whoever made this sword must have skipped supper time for decades to finish it.

"But it's not bronze or gold," I said, like a freaking genius.

"Yeah. It's Stygian iron. Huh, that's weird. My sword's the only weapon before this one made with that material. Only Hephaestus himself could've made something like this." Nico picked it up by its handle, swung it gracefully a few times, and then handed it to me. "Here, try it out."

I grabbed the handle. It felt oddly comfortable in my grip. Then, with one swift motion, I had sliced a spear hanging on the wall cleanly in half.

"Oops," I said, sheepishly looking at the spear, wondering if I could get a piece of dirty old string, or even Duct tape, to fix it. Then I thought it was a stupid idea. If I, Sonia, had tried to fix something, it would have ended up looking worse than it did when it was broken. Plus, I thought I had already agreed dirty old string does not hold a weapon together.

"Hey, you look good with that," said Nico. He smiled his creepy smile. "What do you think? Is that the weapon you want?"

"Well… It just feels… Right." I couldn't lie. I seriously could envision myself slashing Mr. Gar to bits with this freakishly epic blade.

"Okay then. I can pay."

"No no! You don't have to…"

"It's fine. It IS your birthday after all."

Nico reached into his jean pocket and grabbed a small, brown sack. He checked a tag on the package and whistled.

"Wow. Pricey."

Nico then walked over and set the sack on the counter. He then reached into the package and grabbed a black sheath and set it on the counter along with my new sword.

"But… There's no one at the counter…" What happened next should not have surprised me. I mean, after all I had just run into a real cyclops. I'd pretty much seen everything. But a magical talking counter? That was even newer than a cyclops teacher.

On the top of the elegant table was a plaque that read: "Hephaestus' Hidden Crafts." The plaque shifted away, revealing a black screen that showed a bunch of green letters in an ancient language. What was really messed up was that I could understand it. It said "Hephaestus/Hades…Sword…Stygian Iron…100 drachmas."

"It's in Greek," Nico said, seeing my bewildered expression. "People like us tend to be able to read Greek and Latin."

He opened the sack and put 100 strange coins on top of the screen. The coins dissolved into green light, and the screen said, "Thank you for your purchase. Come back soon (or else)." Then, the plaque slid back into place.

Nico then took the sword and handed it, along with its sheath, to me. I strapped the sheath to my belt.

"C'mon, I still owe you that explanation," Nico said, holding out his hand. His face had a obvious look of relief on it.

I took his hand, and he lead me up the stairs and out of the cupcake store. We walked into the amusement park part of the Mall and sat down on a bench. I could see the sky through the glass ceiling. It was orange-pink, the color of a sky with a setting sun. We must have been on our weapon shopping spree for hours for it to be this late already.

Nico turned to me, smirked, and said, "So it's time for me to explain all of these crazy events, to you of all people…"


	4. Nico I

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Nico**_

**The Talk**

Just to let you know, this talk was not like the any of those annoyingly weird talks your parents would try to give you frequently in the car or something. Pinch me if it was. Wait, don't. If you even try to touch me, that just means to me you would absolutely LOVE to meet my fathering the Underworld. An angry letter would do the job just fine.

Anyway, I had to think hard about how to word this. She might've thought I was out of my mid if I said the wrong thing.

While thinking hard, I took a good look at her.

She had straight, dark brown (or was it black?) hair that fell smoothly just below her shoulders and unnaturally pale blue eyes. She calmly focused her strange eyes on my, as I thought.

Sonia Blanchard was by far one of the weirdest girls I had ever met. She was annoying, stubborn, fiery, annoying, childlike, playful… and did I mention annoying? Well, what was the weirdest about her was her reactions to being thrown into the mess of a life I call a demigod's. Sonia was relaxed. She kept her cool and continued using that smack-talking mouth of hers even while Mr. Gar the Cyclops was rampaging around the school.

Sonia continued watching me, waiting for the explanation she had begged and begged for (irritating me to my wit's end in the process).

"So… you know the Greek… uh Roman… those gods?" I finally said awkwardly. Heat rushed to my face. Wow, Nico, you are soo good at this, messing up on your first statement. All my ideas of a quick and clean explanation had vanished entirely.

"Yeah," Sonia said. "What about them?" Her facial expression told me that she had already slightly known where this was going.

"Err, well…" I was interrupted by one of the passengers on the roller coaster behind the bench we were sitting on. The dude was howling a string of curses as the roller coaster made a massive drop.

Sonia was giggling. "I think we should go somewhere else. I find it kinda hard to take you seriously when someone is screaming louder than a little girl behind you."

Her tired face shined with a playful, silent laugh.

"Okay," I said, smirking as the guy on the ride started a new set of swear words upon the coaster reaching a super-slanted turn.

Sonia and I walked around the Mall. She pointed out her favorite rides (which included almost half of the park) and gaped at the shops. I ended up having to drag her away from store window after store window.

I had to admit, I had grown a little bit attached to the girl. I felt a strong sense of urgency to protect her. She felt like she was a sister or something…

At the thought, my heart tugged painfully. I forced my mind away from the thought.

Finally, I saw a large collection of tables surrounded by a string of restaurants lining the walls of a large clearing.

"There's the Food Court," I said, nodding in its direction. "Why don't we have a seat?"

Sonia skipped cheerily up to a table for two and sat down without any hesitation. I looked awkwardly around before taking the seat across from her. I felt my face heat up again as I saw a teenage couple talking, laughing, and holding hands at the table next to us.

I uneasily cleared my throat.

"Well… those Greek and Roman myths? They, along with all the gods and creatures in them, are real."

Sonia narrowed her eyes.

"So… you worship pagan gods?"

Her comment almost made burst out laughing.

"Worship? Worship the gods?" I snorted. The idea was so ridiculous. I just could imagine my father, zapping dead people into submission while having female ghouls feed him grapes and accepting sacrifices from people bowing to his statue in a temple on earth.

"No no no. That would be a horrible idea. The gods are just… there."

I cringed and took a glance at the sky. That was a dangerous thing to say, but technically it was true. The gods, even though they had wickedly awesome powers, were not beings to be worshipped. There really was only one Divine God to be worshipped.

"Okay, good," Sonia said. "Cuz I happen to be a very religious Catholic."

"You? Religious?"

"Yeah, me! Don't look at me like that! I go to mass every Sunday and pray before bed and meals…"

"Alright, alright, I get it," I laughed.

"Do ya? Do ya really?" Sonia's eyes were lit up and she had a smile on her face.

"Anyway, there are demigods, like you and me. Demigods are children of the gods."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Does that mean I can fly?"

"No… Well maybe… I don't know! It depends on who your godly parent is!" I snapped, my face turning bright red. Sonia laughed as she saw my expression. The girl could be very irritating if she wanted to be.

"So who's… oh yeah. You're a son of Hades."

"Yeah. That's why I can shadow travel. Unfortunately, flying does not seem to be in a son of Hades' job description."

"Wait. If the gods are real, doesn't that mean-"

"That monsters are real too?" I cut her off. "Yep."

"But in the myths I heard, monsters are immortal…"

"The gods are too. But remember that everything has a physical form that can be destroyed. This is true for both the monsters and the gods. Celestial bronze, Imperial gold, and Stygian iron weapons can destroy most monsters' physical body. When a god or a monster is destroyed, they disintegrate into dust and are sent to Tartarus to heal."

"Sooo, this tartar sauce place…"

"Tartarus."

"Yeah that. It's basically a hospital for monsters and gods."

"… Sure." I was about to say a hospital that was deadly to human beings, but I was too tired to explain all of that. I looked up at the glass ceiling. The sky was a light purple and was dotted with stars. The lights of the rides were lit up for the evening.

I turned to Sonia.

"We should probably find a place to sleep for the night. You will learn a lot more in depth about this stuff when we get to Camp tomorrow."

For once, Sonia didn't argue. She nodded, her eyelids drooping.

"C'mon, let's go." I gently grabbed her hand.

Suddenly, I tensed up as a sinister-sounding, inhuman screech ripped through yelps of joy of the many tourists and visitors of the Mall. Beside me, Sonia was looking wide-eyed at the ceiling. I looked up. This time, swooping through the starry sky, there were massive, eagle-winged, lion-like creatures flying proudly through the air in search of something.

I cursed under my breath.

"Let me guess, more monsters?" Sonia groaned. She continued to watch the sky. "Great, just great. How come I can't fly like a freaking awesome superhero, but evil, stinky monsters can?"

"We have to shadow-travel to Camp, now!" I said urgently, ignoring the fact that I was already exhausted from a long day and my previous shadow-travel journey.

"But… what about all the tourists and other people here?" Sonia looked concernedly around, as a little kid, holding his mother's hand and a balloon, ran by screaming and giggling.

"The gryphons are only after us. They won't attack anyone if we aren't here."

"Are you sure? Wait, did you just say-?"

"YES, I said GRYPHONS! And I'm absolutely positive. Now come on!"

Without waiting for a fiery retort or an argument, I gripped Sonia's hand tightly and dove into the shadows.


	5. Nico II

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Nico**_

**My Father Sends Me a Horse**

This time, we were stranded in the middle of an open field of wheat. I stood up and looked around. There were no houses or any buildings in sight.

I swore angrily. Again? Why were my powers so unreliable? I have shadow-traveled with people from one place to another before! It had never been this difficult.

Sonia unsteadily stood up beside me. She looked incredibly tired.

"We have to shadow-travel again," I said. Then, my knees buckled.

Sonia caught me and steadied me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah… I don't really think that's such a good idea, dude."

I cursed again.

"Someone has some anger issues," Sonia said teasingly. She managed to put on a small smile.

"Err, sorry," I said, embarrassed. Sonia sat down, and I followed in suit. The wheat grew high above our heads when we were sitting, blocking parts of the night sky from view.

She sighed.

"So I guess we're stuck here?"

"Unless you know another way to Camp."

Sonia rested her head on her palms. She looked like she was thinking very hard. I was a little bit shocked. The girl ,who had seemed so naïve and carefree just hours before, now looked like she had aged five years. Her facial expression was piercing the focused. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

I was trying to come up with something too.

How else could we get there safely and quickly?

_ Dad,_ I begged in my head. _If you're listening, please help me._

For some bizarre reason, my father actually decided to help this time.

Behind us, out of the cover oft the wheat and seemingly melting out of the shadows, a large and elegant-looking figure appeared. It had a pale, smoky form and a flowing, white mane. I shook my head to try and clear it.

For sure it was a ghost. I knew that. It had an air of death around it that I could sense. But what made it different from a ton of the ghosts I had seen before was that it was an animal. It was a ghost horse.

The horse stood proudly. Its mane flew behind it, as if the wind was blowing through. Its eyes had a look of knowledge on them. It pawed the ground restlessly.

"Oh… my… GOSH!" Sonia squealed beside me. "It's a horse!"

She ran up to it and immediately started to pet and cuddle it. All I could do was watch with wide eyes and my jaw dropped to the floor.

"H-how…?" I finally managed.

"Must be a gift from whoever my godly parent is," Sonia laughed. Her pale blue eyes were shining.

What happened next made my jaw drop even more, if that was possible. A misty aura the color of Sonia's eyes surrounded her and the horse. They were looking straight into each other's eyes and looked as if one fully understood the other. They stood still for a few minutes, when the girl finally took a step back. The aura vanished.

Sonia then turned to me.

"You see, Nico, Skia used to be owned by a brother of yours," she said calmly. "The son of Hades yelled at and beat her a ton. He eventually beat her to death. You can kind of see why Skia doesn't really trust sons of Hades that much anymore."

"Skia… The horse… wh-what just happened?" I stammered awkwardly. Sonia giggled again, and the horse made a noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter.

The girl rested her hand on the horse's side, and the beautiful aura surrounded them once more. She took her hand off after a few seconds and then turned to me again.

"You know, I think you should probably say sorry to her," she said to me.

"But-"

"The poor thing has been through a lot at the hands of your brother. The least that you could do is apologize on his behalf."

The horse nodded its head matter-of-factly with a shine of triumph in its eyes behind Sonia. I sighed.

"Fine. Sorry Skia."

"Oh yeah, you should thank your dad, too. He did answer your plea for help, after all."

"How did you know I asked my father for help?"

Sonia smiled and said, "Skia told me it was your father who came and managed to convince her to help you."

"Also, how in the world can you talk with a freaking horse?!" I asked her.

The horse snorted indignantly.

"I'm so sorry Skia. He didn't really mean it that way. You shouldn't take Nico seriously. He is a boy after all, and you know, probably more than ever, that boys can be so idiotic if they wish to be."

"Hey!"

The horse made its laughing sound again and then whinnied something to Sonia. Sonia rested her hand on its side again, causing the aura to reappear for a few moments.

"Okay. Thanks girl."

"What did she say this time?"

"She can shadow-travel us to an area really near the Camp. It won't use up any of your energy, and it will be quicker and give me less nightmares."

I blushed. I never realized how scary shadow-traveling could be to people who could not do it themselves on a day-to-day basis.

"Oh, okay. Err… thanks Skia."

Skia turned to me and nickered. Then, she bowed so that we could slip onto her bare back. Sonia got on first. I followed. The ghost horse held its head high and trotted towards a shadowy area of the field.

"You ready?" Sonia looked back towards me.

"I hate horses," I muttered. Skia shook her mane as a sassy retort and then, with an angry nip at my left foot, galloped at breakneck speed into the shadows.

We exited the shadow-travel in the forest just outside of Camp.

"Owww," I whined (which was very unlike me) and rubbed my foot where Skia nipped it. "That hurt, you stupid horse!"

Skia shook her mane and snorted proudly. I glared at her, and she gave me an equally matched evil-eye back.

"Cut it out, both of you!" Sonia said sternly. She glared at us both, causing us to shrink back. Her glare was more intimidating than mine and Skia's combined when she glared straight at you.

"She started it," I mumbled like a toddler. Skia seemed as if she were neighing the same thing.

Sonia sighed.

I shuddered. Something did not feel right. I drew my sword and readied myself for combat, staring into the trees. Sonia caught my eye and unsheathed her sword as well.

There was a heavy pounding of paws that got closer and closer and surrounded us. Soon we were trapped in a circle of about fifteen drooling hellhounds. Their eyes gleamed with malice.

"Sonia, stick near me!" I ordered. "I have a feeling getting to Camp will not be a walk in the park."

She nodded and pressed the back of her foot against mine. Her eyes glowed and she held a powerful stance. We stood back-to-back, bracing for combat.

Skia reared and neighed angrily. She looked like she too was itching for combat.

I glanced at both of them and felt strength surge through me.

The hellhounds howled a horrible cry, and then leaped at us, jaws and claws ready to kill.


	6. Nico III

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Nico**_

**Hounds and Half-bloods**

Five of the hellhounds targeted me, snarling at me with their wolf-like fangs bared maliciously. I dodged attack after attack as they took turns snapping viciously at my head and neck.

_ Ok, Nico, _I told myself._ Focus. Focus._ I narrowed my eyes and took a deep breath.

One of the monsters attacked, and I narrowly avoided it. Then, I swiveled around and, with a flash of my pitch black sword, I cut through its neck easily. The hellhound disintegrated into dust.

I turned to the others, putting on my most intimidating glare. They lowered their tails slightly but continued to growl ferociously at me. They were a little hesitant to attack after seeing the death of their friend, and I used their moment of hesitation to punch through the head of one of the hounds, causing it to let out a howl of surprise before disintegrating.

Two down, three to go.

This time, with a horrible, angry snarl, all three attacked me at once. They pounced with jaws wide open, aiming to bite my head clean off. I avoided two of them. They collided, snout first, into each other, and landed on their tails, momentarily stunned. I slashed into the third monster's side quickly whipped around, sword outstretched, and stabbed into its chest.

The two other hellhounds shook themselves off before leaping again. I stabbed one in the gut, avoiding the other. Then, I twisted to face the final hellhound. It whined and accepted its defeat without a fight.

I look around and see the spirit horse, Skia, struggling against her five hellhound enemies. Skia was delivering powerful bursts of swift kicks to muzzles and flanks, but since her hooves were not made of Celestial bronze, her attacks only stunned the beasts. To add to her struggles, the horse seemed to be receiving deep wounds from the hellhounds. She bore white scratches on her pale sides, back, and neck.

I dashed in and slashed through three of the monsters.

"Skia, hurry up and return to my father, while you have the chance!" I yelled urgently at the horse, who was flailing her hooves hopelessly at the remaining two hounds.

Skia gave me an estranged look, as if to say "A son of Hades? Saving me?"

"Go! Don't lose your ghostly life up for us!"

The horse murmured, nudged my arm affectionately and encouragingly, and then bounded into the shadows. I turned and faced the remaining hellhounds.

I whacked them away with the flat of my blade before summoning a skeleton to assist me from the ground. It looked around the size of an average teen and wielded a Celestial bronze dagger. The skeleton must have, as a living being, been a demigod killed just outside of Camp. It took one glance at the hellhounds before, with one graceful slash of the dagger, it sent the hounds to Tartarus. It turned and nodded its skull at me respectfully before disappearing back into the ground.

I then look around to find Sonia fighting off two hellhounds across the forest clearing. She looked very focused. I was impressed to see that she had only attained one wound: a bite on her left arm.

With undeniable grace, Sonia darted forward, her Stygian iron sword gleaming in her hand, and stabbed a hellhound straight through its skull. Its partner growled angrily and attacked. She warded it off and then cut off its head. It disintegrated into a poof of dust.

Once she had sheathed her sword, Sonia turned to me. Her dark hair was now a shoulder-length, wild mess. Her inhumanly pale blue eyes shined with exhilaration.

"I would've helped you out with that, but, when I had turned around, it appeared you had no need for assistance," I said to her. Her face reddened slightly at the praise.

"You didn't fight too bad yourself." Sonia smiled back at me. "But your fighting style could be a little less dark and sinister-looking."

I smirked.

"Have you forgotten that I'm the senior here?"

"Have you forgotten that I do not heed the authority of any senior to me?"

"Do you really think you're better at wielding Stygian iron than me?"

"Oh please! I could beat you with my eyes closed!"

"Wanna test that theory?"

Sonia's eyes widened.

"Wait… You're kidding, right? You wouldn't really make me fight you with my eyes shut… I mean, it was a figure of speech."

"Do you think I'm one to kid around?"

"What? No! Please don't-!"

I interrupted her by swiftly pinning her to the ground with the flat of my blade pressed to her throat.

"I'll let you go if you admit I'm the better swordsman."

"Oh come on dude! That was a low-down, dirty-"

I pressed down even harder.

"Ack! Okay! Okay! Fine! You're a better swordsman than me! Now please don't choke me before I get to Camp." Sonia had an expression of horror on her face.

I laughed and stood up. Sonia did the same and rubbed her throat.

"That wasn't very nice!" Sonia complained.

"Haha! You're expression was hilarious though."

"Yeah. I bet you love scaring girls to death for fun, don't you?"

"Hey, more people for my father's kingdom."

"Humph."

I held my hand out, and she took it. I led her to the entrance of the Camp.

"Well, we're here now," I said. I sighed a sigh of relief in my head. It felt so good to be home.

"Can you show me around?" Sonia begged with wide, pleading eyes. She put her bottom lip out in a small pour. "Pleeeaaase?"

"Maybe tomorrow."

"Maybe?"

"I'm a busy guy."

"But you owe me for scaring me out of my wits just a few minutes ago."

"Well..."

"Come on!"

"Fine, fine. I'll show you around tomorrow."

"Promise?"

I sighed and looked into her pale blue eyes.

"Promise."

I turned to take a step inside when I heard a cry of fear from behind. I jump and twist around to scan the trees.

I saw a scrawny, Hispanic kid, who looked around twelve years old, running for his life. His dark eyes were wide with panic, and his short, black hair was a complete mess. His tan skin was smeared with mud and scrapes. He was pelting as fast as he could towards us. There were at least fifty hellhounds hot on his heels. The boy was fast, but the hellhounds slowly but surely were catching up to him.

"Oh gods," I sigh. Then I turn to Sonia. "You go to Camp and get cleaned up. This should only take a few minutes."

"No way! I'm not letting you go out there alone."

"No! You're staying here and that's-" My voice trailed off, for Sonia had already taken off towards the boy and the pack.

"…final." I growled and then muttered to myself, "Great. Just great."

I hurry to catch up to her, and together, we run up beside the boy.

"Keep going! You'll see a gate with the words 'Camp Half-Blood' on them. Go through the gate. You'll be safe there!" I yelled at the kid. He nodded obediently and pushed forward.

Sonia and I leap in the gap between the boy and the pack. We draw our swords.

"If I die, you better run as fast as you can back to Camp," I snap at Sonia.

"You are NOT gonna die on me."

"How can you be so sure?"

"We're partners now. You have to trust me." Sonia fixed me with a look from her pale blue eyes. I nodded and focused in on the pack.

Suddenly, I felt a warmth race through my veins. Sonia's eyes glowed, and she had rested one hand on my arm. I felt a surge of powerful emotions. The many emotions I felt were not mine. Panic, excitement, compassion, and many other feelings entered my body. I felt strengthened by the emotions' presence.

I looked at Sonia. She was surrounded by that pale blue aura again. I noticed that I was enwrapped in the aura as well. Sonia was giving me strength for battle.

I was momentarily shocked. The only other person I knew who could do this was a daughter of the Roman goddess Bellona. Sonia could not possibly have been a child of Bellona. I didn't think so at least. It just did not feel right.

I didn't dwell on these thoughts for long, though. I accepted the strength and, with a roar, threw myself forward. What happened in the next few minutes was like a blur to me.

My blade whirled through the air, cutting down monster after monster like they were no sturdier than blades of grass. Soon, over half of the pack was absolutely demolished entirely by me. I then glanced at Sonia. The aura still surrounded her as she flashed from one hellhound to another, cutting them down almost as quickly as I had. With each passing minute, however, she seemed to becoming more and more tired.

Finally, there was only one hellhound left. This one was the most massive and hideous of the pack. I just assumed he was the leader.

Without a single look at each other, Sonia and I moved forward completely in sync. We attacked so swiftly and smoothly we could've passed as demons, and we dodged every single attack the leader tried to throw our way. Suddenly, the hellhound made a sudden movement and smashed Sonia into the ground with one gigantic paw.

The world stopped.

I must've screamed like a maniac. I ran to her side. She was breathing heavily. There was a gash on the girl's head. I scooped her up and set her down behind a rock. She smiled weakly and closed her eyes.

Instinctively, I took Sonia's sword. Then, dual wielding the Stygian iron blades, I was engulfed in shadows.

"HEY UGLY! YOU SHOULD LEARN TO PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!" I roared.

I was overcome by rage. After that, all I remembered was a burst of darkness and smashing Sonia's blade through the monster's skull.

After the battle I felt a rush of exhaustion. I hurried back to Sonia's side. She looked horrible. Her pale face was even paler now, and she had scratches and bruises all over her body. She opened her eyes and tried to smile again.

"Hey, we're a pretty good team," the girl rasped.

"Yeah, that was awesome, what you did back there," I told her. "I couldn't have beat that thing without that strength you gave me."

Her face turned pink. I thought mine must have been bright red as well.

"That was the second praise today, Death Boy," Sonia said.

Her mysterious eyes glowed with laughter before they rolled back, and her fragile form was seen crumpling down into the dirt.


	7. Tomas I

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

****My dear, lovely, readers. I am sorry if I did not publish the chapter quick enough. I have been extremely busy because it was my birthday. :) Any who, I will from now on be publishing at least once a week, so yeah... Now, onward to the next awesome chapter!****

_**Tomas**_

**Welcome to Camp Half-Blood**

My lungs screamed for air and my legs felt like jelly. I didn't know how long I'd been running for, but I personally thought I had been sprinting for hours. Finally, I saw the entrance the guy in the hoodie had mentioned.

The guy in the hoodie! I remembered and slid to a halt, turning and frantically trying to spot him. When I found him, what I saw scared the sense out of me.

There he was, furiously screaming at the monster. His eyes looked as if they were made of shadowy flames. He carried to black swords that appeared to be wrapped in ribbons of darkness. His entire body seemed to be shrouded in sinister shadows.

He was a whirlwind of wicked blades, brutally and mercilessly slashing the dog-like monster he was fighting, landing hit after hit while the ugly mutt cowered in fear. At last the mutt was destroyed when the teenager drove one of his swords through its head.

After dealing with the monster, he ran to the shelter of a rock and stooped down. I heaved a sigh of relief. If the dude had died to that thing because of me, I never would have forgiven myself.

Then, I saw a bulky shadow dart into the scene. Another one of those things! And this time, the powerful guy didn't notice it. I wanted to shout out for him to look out, to run up to the monster, to do SOMETHING.

Suddenly, my forehead started to glow. Instead of paying attention to that, though, I was focused on my hands. They turned into swirling shadows. From one of the shadowy flames (the one in my left hand) something materialized: a pitch black sword.

Instinctively, without even thinking about where it came from, I gripped the hilt of the sword and then charged forward, ignoring the shouts from a small crowd gathering at the entrance telling me to come back.

I ran faster than I did even while running from the pack of monsters. I leaped and flipped in midair, bringing my sword down on the stunned monster's skull.

The teenage boy turned around, stunned. In his arms lay a girl with a huge gash on her head. Suddenly, I felt slightly embarrassed for intruding.

"Did you just…?" The boy looked at me with shock and a little bit of respect in his wide-eyed gaze.

"I… Err… Well…" I muttered, rubbing my head sheepishly. "I really have no idea how I did that."

The boy continued to gape at me until for other teenagers, from that crowd in that Camp I guessed, ran up to us carrying a seemingly hand-made stretcher. They, without a second glance, hoisted the unconscious girl onto the stretcher and hurried back the way they came. The boy followed.

I was rooted in place, nervous to join them. I was a tiny bit scared of these people and still couldn't believe what had just happened.

"Hey!" Someone's voice rang out. I looked for the voice's owner. It was that guy again. He was smirking. "Are you coming, kid?"

I jogged over to him and nodded gratefully. My energy had returned it seemed. We walked with the stretcher. This time I actually went through the entrance.

We had a welcome party.

There was a large group of people at the entrance, staring at the motley group of people.

A massive man with a horse body trotted up to us.

This really didn't shock me much after being chased by a bunch of weird creatures for weeks, so I just watched him approach. He came to me. I looked straight into his eyes. They shone with wisdom and kindness.

"What is your name, son?" the horse man asked me.

"Tomas Rodriguez, sir," I answered, adding the 'sir' to be respectful.

What happened then shocked me more than the human-eating dogs.

The horse man bowed, and the rest of the people followed in suit. The boy in the hoodie hesitantly bowed as well, looking a little puzzled.

"Hail, Tomas Rodriguez, son of Hades, the powerful ruler of the Underworld."

I was momentarily stunned. Son of Hades? Wait, who was this guy… no WHAT was this guy? Suddenly, a thought hit me. I had heard myths about horse men in school before, but those were just myths, right? But Hades? Bloodthirsty hounds? Anything seemed possible. Could the big, horse-bodied man possibly be…

"Hello, young Tomas," said the horse man once he and all the others had straightened up. "I am Chiron, the centaur, teacher of heroes."

A centaur!

"You're THE Chiron?! From the Greek mythology?!"

"The one and only," the centaur said, smiling at my shocked expression and seemingly happy I didn't need much explaining to.

"So if you're actually Chiron, then that means my dad's…"

Chiron nodded, waiting patiently for me to finish my sentence.

"HADES?! The Greek god of the UNDERWORLD?! That's so cool!" My face must have lit up brighter than Christmas lights. I loved reading fantasy-adventure ANYTHING (you could call me a nerd, I guess, but that wouldn't be very nice).

The lesson on Greek mythology in English class was probably my favorite unit. I loved learning in depth about all the valiant heroes, the bloody battles, the horrendous creatures, and the legendary Olympians.

"Yes, Tomas. Your father is Hades, Greek lord of the Underworld." Chiron was chuckling as he spoke with me. "Oh yes."

Chiron looked at the boy in the gray hoodie, whose face paled as the centaur fixed his gaze on him.

"Why are you not introducing yourself to your brother?"

I was shocked into silence for a minute before looking from Chiron to the boy with a blank expression.

"…He's my brother?"

"Stepbrother , actually." The boy slunk up to me and put his hand out hesitantly. "Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades."

I took a closer look at him and shuddered. Nico had a pale, mud-smeared face. Above his dark eyes, there was a small cut on his eyebrow from his recent battle. His dark hair, which was slightly long, was a tousled mess. On his gray hoodie, which was all dirty, there was a black skull. He had his sword strapped, in its sheathe, to his belt. The sight of my bloodstained, skinny, mysterious older brother kind of scared me.

I shook his hand nervously.

"Err… Well you already heard that I'm Tomas Rodriguez…"

Nico looked me up and down as if sizing me up and then turned away. I gulped.

"Nico, why don't you show your little brother to your cabin to get cleaned up…"

"But sir," Nico said abruptly. "I have to check on Sonia. I promised I would show her around tomorrow."

"She won't go anywhere if she's unconscious. Plus, you have new responsibilities with a younger sibling. It is your duty to mentor your brother. You are the eldest and only other son of Hades; it is your job to show him the ropes."

"But Sonia doesn't HAVE anyone to show her the ropes-"

"Then you can teach them both," Chiron said firmly. His face showed there should be no further argument. "Nico, it may be good for you to have a brother for a change. Start acting like the older brother this young demigod most likely wishes to have fighting beside him."

Nico looked uneasily at me, like I was a bomb about to explode. I decided to speak up.

"If you don't mind, sir. We could go check that girl my brother mentioned after I wash up. Err, that is if that's what my brother wishes." I look up into Nico's eyes. They showed signs of gratefulness. He turned to the centaur.

"Please Chiron," Nico pleaded, his face filled with clouded emotions.

Chiron looked at me and held his gaze. He seemed as if he were studying me. I gulped. Finally, he sighed and nodded.

"Very well," he said. "I see you are passionate about this person, and I suppose there is no stopping you. But do remember you have a new younger sibling that you must attend to, and though, no doubt, he seems very well educated about several of our ways, he needs your affection and teaching too. After all," Chiron's eyes twinkled. "He is a part of your family now."

Nico looked at me again. His eyes were showing floods of pain. After a few moments, Chiron clopped away, leaving me behind with my new big brother.

"Let's go get you cleaned up," Nico said in a toneless voice. He walked off with a blank face. I hurried to follow.

I had a new brother! And a pretty wicked awesome one at that. I had always wished for a big brother.

"Nico," I whispered, quietly so he wouldn't actually hear. "I won't let you or our dad down. I promise to both of you to try and make you proud of me."

I hesitated before saying the last part of my promise. I had read that this was a pretty dangerous thing to do during the Greek mythology unit, but…

I looked at Nico's emotionless face and tried to match his strides like many little brothers did, at least when I saw them with their older siblings. He seemed like he was masking a strong sense of sorrow. My heart tugged.

"I promise on the River Styx to try with my life to be the best brother to you that I could possibly be in everything I do."

And to not be like the horrid family that I had left behind.

**SUPER IMPORTANT! PLEEEAAASSSEEE READ!**

**Okay peeps, so you see I am writing this fanfic with my super awesome friend and editor. We are in a bit of a disagreement. Ya see, my friend wants Sonia and Nico to be together (Sonico), but I would prefer for Sonia to be with Tomas (Somas), or at least another non canon character. You see the dilemma? So we decided to let you peoples decide for us! So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review. I HAVE to know that I win... I mean what pairing is the best. Yeah, that's it. So yeah, review, tell the world bout my fanfic, and thanks for reading my chapter! Peace out!**


	8. Tomas II

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

**_Tomas_**

**What Just Happened?**

**My greatest apologies to you dear loyal readers out there who have been waiting for this chapter to come out. I know I said I will be posting weekly, and I already broke that promise. SO SORRY! I've been super busy! Allow me to rephrase what I said in the last chapter: I will TRY to post a chapter weekly. Sometimes my schedule interferes. Anyway. Bye-bye for now! PLEASE don't stop (believing) reading my story, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW, and FOLLOW and FAVORITE. Onwards, fellow fanfiction readers, to the story!**

Nico and I walked in utter silence. I wanted to say something, but every time I looked at his gaunt face, I would shiver and decide against it. Instead, I looked around at the evening activities of the campers. All around half-bloods were laughing and chatting. Every now and then I would see people in Greek armor or wielding Celestial bronze swords. As I looked at the many varieties of bronze blades, I remembered something.

As I walked, I looked down and I noticed I was lugging a large, black sword along with me. It must have seemed strange seeing a scrawny Hispanic kid dragging a gigantic sword on the ground behind him, but if anyone noticed, no one said anything (for which I was extremely grateful). I paused to take a good look at it. It was an simple, black blade with a comfortable, leather handle.

"You can keep it." I jumped as Nico spoke. He was watching me with his eerily dark eyes. I shuddered and hoped that I wouldn't end up looking that scary. "It's a gift from Dad."

I followed my brother for a few more steps shrouded in more awkward silence until we arrived at a... how do I describe this?... well, a cabin.

"Go ahead and take a look around inside," said Nico. "I'll prepare your bunk." He ushered me in.

I was surprised to see how... NOT gloomy the Hades cabin was. Sure the coloring was a bit dark, but the inside was pretty normal-looking.

There were several seemingly soft and lush bunk beds atop platforms, which were in turn on top of black marble steps. The steps lined walls of a pretty wide corridor with black carpeting. The floors were black tiles. In between each bunk, hanging on the maroon walls, were eerie torches. On the platforms were black marble pillars, on the edge of the black marble steps, towering over and bearing the weight of the dark ceiling.

It was a cool place actually. One without much color, but still cool.

I got washed up and then slipped on a fresh, new Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans. I heaved a sigh. What a day.

Nico was reserved and quiet. He ignored me as I walked around the cabin. I sighed again and sat down on my new bunk. It felt so warm and welcoming. I dove backwards into it and laid down on it. I was exhausted.

"I'm going to go and get something to eat," Nico said after a few moments. He paused before saying something again. "When I get back, we'll go check on Sonia." He left without another word. The cabin was filled with a lonely quietness.

Finally, bored out of my mind, I decided to think back to the day I had just had.

The horrible reality struck me harder and faster than lightning. I was filled with a sudden rush of sorrow.

My morning had started off as normally as I could have it in my house.

My aunt and uncle were the people who took care of me. They were believed to be crazy by everyone in the neighborhood, including me. Now that I knew about Camp Half-Blood, though, I understood what they would talk about at the dinner table or while shopping for groceries. Unfortunately, they feared and hated half-bloods a lot, and they blamed and punished me for all of the troubles that came around.

My mother had been a half-blood. She had died awhile back. Now I believe that she was killed by a monster. That is what my uncle said after all. My father... Well, you guys already know.

Anyway, I had woken up at four in the morning to do my chores: fix my bed, take out the trash, and, today, mow the lawn. Then, when I had come inside, I ate breakfast.

Breakfast for me was often very small and barely gave me enough energy to survive until lunch, which I had at school. Today, I enjoyed leftover noodle soup (there was only one noodle) and two crackers as I watched my uncle and aunt feast on egg sandwiches. The bus left at the same time it always did. School went on as it always did.

After school was when everything changed.

My uncle picked me up from school today. We drove home in our usual silence.

We pulled up into the driveway of a battered house with shattered windows, shredded curtains, and a bashed up door.

My uncle shrieked in fury and flung open the car door. He darted into the house and, a few minutes later, led out my aunt, who was scratched and bruised but other than that alright. She looked dazed and angry.

_"__Que pas__ó__?"_

_"__Bestias! Llegaron! Gracias a __él__!"_My aunt pointed furiously at me. I was standing just to the side of the car, my feet rooted in place.

My uncle turned to me angrily and loomed over me, screaming at me in Spanish as he always did when he was mad at me.

"_Usted muchacho desgraciado ! Todo esto es tu culpa ! __¿__Me oyes ? Esto es todo lo que falta_!" He shrieked several horrible phrases and words in Spanish before pointing down the driveway.

"Go! You cannot stay here anymore!" he snarled in English. "Go!"

I could tell he meant it. With tears in my eyes, I sprinted down the driveway and out of the neighborhood, never to return.

I continued running for ten minutes before hunching over and gasping for air.

I took a seat on the side of an empty road. I looked at the road, blinking away tears, not believing what had just happened to me. I had just been driven out of the only place I could have called home. I must have sat there crying for quite awhile. The sun had started to set before I stood up to run again.

That was when I saw my uncle's car rolling slowly up to me. Hope filled my heart. It was too good to be true! I sprinted up to the car, not believing my uncle had come for me.

When I looked in the window, however, my uncle turned to me with golden eyes. I froze in my tracks. Golden eyes?

Suddenly my uncle let out an inhuman snarl, unfastened his seatbelt, and leaped at me, shattering the windshield of his car. I yelped in terror. His fingertips were stained in blood. I whipped back. My uncle dove for me again. Instinctively, I did a roundhouse kick at his jaw. My uncle was knocked unconscious.

I ran, horrified, away from my golden-eyed uncle. Away from my aunt. Away from everything I had ever known. Away from her...

I was jolted out of my thoughts by a voice saying, "Hey kid, are you okay?"

I sat up straight on my bunk. Nico was looking at me, eyes wide.

"Huh?" My reply sounded like a frog's croak.

"You're crying."

I just noticed the tears running down my face and hastily wiped them away, embarrassed.

"N-nothing. It's nothing!"

Nico's eyes narrowed. I couldn't help but notice he couldn't hide his concern. Heat rushed to my face.

"I brought some food for you."

Nico was carrying a paper plate with a pizza and fries on it. My mouth watered. I didn't realize how hungry I was until now, but I concealed my hunger.

"Err, thanks," I said, hopping off my bed and taking the plate gratefully. He cracked a small smile as I gulped down half the pizza in seconds. Then, he walked outside and waited for me to finish my dinner.

When I was done, I walked outside to join my older brother who was leaning against the wall of the Hades cabin.

"That was quick," Nico noted. "Did they not feed you where you came from?" I gulped.

Nico noticed that as well and shrugged off the question.

"Ready to go?" he asked me. I nodded. "Okay then."

We walked across the clearing to a bright cabin. I wondered which Greek god's children lived there.

"Apollo," Nico said, answering my unasked question. "They usually take care of the sick and wounded."

We entered. It was warm inside and the atmosphere was very welcoming. In the corner of the cabin there was a group of three, blond teenagers huddling over a bed. They seemed to be busy at work on something. Nico walked quickly over to them. I took my time to take a good look around before jogging to catch up.

"... be fine after a bit of rest," a blond boy was saying to Nico when I arrived. I looked over to the bed. On it was a teenage girl with pale skin and shoulder-length, dark brown hair. I was stunned. It couldn't be.

I blushed when I realized I was staring. I couldn't help it. That girl on the bed just had to be...

"She's pretty, isn't she, kid?" I turned to see the blond boy smirking at me.

My blush must have turned an even brighter red.

"Yeah, don't worry, all of the boys here thought the same thing when we first saw her."

"What?" Nico looked alarmed and angry.

"Heh, I think even Nico here was taken in by her beauty," the blond boy said teasingly.

"Wait, what? No!" It was Nico's turn to blush bright red. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Nico, the scary son of Hades, was blushing?

"SOLACE!" my older brother snarled at the boy, who was also chuckling.

The blond dude shrugged at him. "Maybe it will do you good to like a girl for once after the incident..." He was interrupted by Nico's death stare. "Okay! Okay! I won't say anything else about it." Then he turned to me.

"I'm Will Solace." Will held out his hand, which I took. "And you must be Nico's new little brother, Tomas Rodriguez?" He smiled a white smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I said, relaxing a little. This guy was nice. I felt lots of tension leave my body.

"Come here if you ever need healing. Or if you need help serenading a special girl..."

Nico cleared his throat. We both turned to him.

"Back to Sonia please?"

"Of course he wants to know about Sonia."

"Shut up Solace."

"Hehe sorry." Will winked at me. I snickered.

Will then turned to the girl on the bed.

"As I was saying, Sonia will be fine after a bit of rest," he said. "I'll let you guys have some space to visit her in peace."

Will beckoned to the other two Apollo kids, who followed him out of the cabin.

Nico was now sitting in a chair at the side of the best. I pulled a chair over beside him and we sat in silence. I looked at the sleeping girl's face. She looked truly beautiful. Well of course she did if she really was who I thought she was... no. That wasn't possible. I had left her far behind this past afternoon...

My heart felt heavy. Before I could stop it a tear rolled down my face. I felt a cold hand touch mine.

"I am not quite you're really okay," Nico said, fixing me with a look from his dark eyes. "You're crying again. What's bothering you?"

This time, I didn't bother to wipe it away. I let the tear finish its journey down my cheek in silence.

Nico sighed and held onto my hand.

"Look, kid, I may not seem like the caring sort of person, but you're part of my family now, and family is everything to me." Nico winced slightly as he said 'family.'

"You can trust me."


	9. Tomas III

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Tomas**_

**Awake and Claimed**

**Okay guys! Here is where it gets interesting! So yeah. Enjoy! And if you enjoy PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review, follow, and favorite. My editor and I would really appreciate it if you gave us your input. That is all for now. Get ready for an epic quest! Peace OUT!**

I bit my lip, trying unsuccessfully to hold in my tears. I had never had anyone who cares for me. Well, except for... More tears cascaded down my face. I wasn't even ashamed to cry anymore. I was overjoyed. I had a brother, family, that cared for me.

Nico smiled sadly and gripped my hand with his own. He let me let silent tears flow down my face in silence without judging me. After awhile, I forced myself to take deep breaths, continually drying my eyes until the tears ceased.

_ Come ON Tomas! _I scolded myself. _Quit being a crybaby in front of your new brother!_

"Are you feeling better now?" Nico asked. I was a little surprised someone who seemed so dark and withdrawn (not to mention amazingly cool) could speak with such care and concern.

"Yeah... Sorry," I replied, my voice quivering. "I just... Never have had an older brother before..."

Nico smiled again, warmth entering his normally shadowy eyes.

"You had a tough life, huh, kid?"

I didn't answer. I didn't want to start crying again. My face must have said it all, though, because all the warmth left his gaze. The warmth was replaced with anger and pity.

"What did they do to you?" Nico said, fuming. He clenched and unclenched his fists. "Who in their right mind would hurt a boy like you?"

I felt embarrassed and nervous at the same time. I just sat there quietly, watching my brother as shadows started to shroud his fist. The shadows danced like flames, flaring and shrinking around his hands and arms.

Then, he closed his eyes and breathed heavily. The shadow flames vanished.

"If I come across them in the Underworld, their souls will pay," Nico vowed grimly, curling his lip like an angry panther. "No one hurts my family and gets away with it."

I glanced nervously at him. Suddenly he turned to me with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "Please tell me what's wrong."

I wasn't quite sure what he was apologizing for. Maybe it was the outburst of death flames, or maybe it was him feeling sorry for what I'd gone through. Either way I didn't see how it was his fault; both were caused by me and me alone.

I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by movement on the bed beside me. The girl! I had completely forgotten.

My eyes fixed onto the girl's closed ones. This would determine everything.

Her eyes fluttered open. They were peculiar, pale blue eyes. They were THE pale blue eyes. I felt as if I was struck by lightning.

"Sonia?" I murmured. "It's really you."

I didn't realize I was hovering over her bed until I was thrown backwards. I felt something jab into my stomach painfully, and, when I had regained my bearings, I was sprawled on the floor of the Apollo cabin, my stomach throbbing painfully. Meanwhile, Sonia had her leg extended and raised slightly above the bed. Nico was trying really hard not to laugh. I tried unsuccessfully to imitate his death glare and aim it at him only to double over in pain.

"Oww..." I moaned and gripped my stomach.

"Tomas?" Sonia's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my gosh! I thought I would never see you again." I thought I heard a hint of disappointment in her voice, but I ignored it.

"Yeah, same here," I mumbled, rubbing my sore stomach and standing up. "And I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"Wait, so you two know each other?" Nico asked. His chuckle was replaced by a look of bewilderment.

"Yeah, we used to go to the same school until I moved away," Sonia said. She looked like her emotions were conflicting with each other. "And Tomas, word for the wise. If you EVER hover over me like that while I'm sleeping again, I will give you another kick in a place that's not quite as pleasant." I knew she was trying to deliver the message in a teasing tone, but she had a broken expression on her face.

Nico looked from me to her. He seemed to be trying to figure everything out.

"So why do you look upset, then, Sonia?" Nico asked. "If you're friends..."

"Err... We are friends but-" I tried to cut in, but Sonia continued talking.

"We were always good friends, but I started to have a crush on him last year, before I switched schools. He didn't return the feelings. I'm over him now." Sonia said everything really quickly. The blunt way she said the last sentence kinda stung though.

Everyone fell into silence. Sonia looked edgy, her eyes flicking from me to Nico. Nico was looking at both of us blankly. I was standing at the foot of the bed, feeling awkward as I massaged my stomach and accepted the estranged looks the other two gave me.

I didn't quite know how to feel. I probably should've been happy she was awake; Sonia and I were good friends... right? But she was acting so cold to me... Not at all like the smart-talking Sonia I knew at school.

Suddenly, Will opened the door and walked in.

"Hey! Sonia's awake!" he said with delight. Then he looked around puzzled at everyone's gloomy expressions. "What's wrong guys?"

"It's nothing!"

"Nothing!"

"None of your business."

We all answered at once. Will looked even more confused.

"Oookay then. Oh yeah, Sonia, do you know who your godly parent is?"

"No, not yet."

"Well then, I'll help you get some fresh clothes, and you'll be staying at the Hermes cabin until then-"

"Sonia can stay at our cabin," I said quickly without even thinking. The other three looked at me, stunned. "Err if she's okay with it that is..." I added sheepishly.

Nico stared at me.

"Does she really have to?" he finally asked nervously.

I couldn't help it. I started laughing.

The other two took in what my brother said and burst out into laughter along with me.

"Nico! You sound scared to have her sleeping in the same cabin as you!" Will snickered. "Oh, this is too funny!"

Nico's face turned red.

"Wow, did I really annoy you that much? Or maybe you're just scared that I'll leave frogs in your bed or something!" Sonia tried again at a joke, but I noticed her face was a light pink. She was trying to hide her blush from when I had invited her over. I shifted awkwardly without anyone noticing.

"Or maybe it's because he doesn't wanna be caught watching you sleep," teased Will. Nico made a failed attempt at his death glare and ended up turning an even brighter red.

"Solace, I swear on the River Styx I'll..."

We laughed as he growled at us. I could tell he was having fun too. It felt so good to laugh along with Sonia again. I hadn't seen her ever since the start of the school year.

Our laughter was cut short by screaming coming from campers out in the clearing. Nico stiffened and hurried outside, Will running right at his heels wide-eyed. Sonia shakily tried to stand up but nearly flopped back onto the bed. I hurried to steady her, holding out my arm to help support her weight.

"Err, thanks," she said, blushing again slightly. We headed out as fast as we could, her arm resting on mine, to the center of Camp.

Everyone's eyes were to the sky. I looked to see a large, dragon-like figure crashing to earth in flames. It was soaring straight in the direction of the Camp. Beside me, Sonia raised her eyebrows. I wondered why she seemed so calm and unimpressed.

"It's coming straight at us!" A male voice cried out somewhere.

"It'll destroy the Camp!" One of the Apollo girls shrieked from beside us, panicked.

I didn't pay much attention to Sonia until I felt the weight of her arms lift slowly. I whipped around to face her, worried that she might topple over. What I saw was an awe-striking sight.

Sonia was glowing with a combination of two swirling auras around her. One was a sparkling, sheer black, and the other was misty and the color of her eyes. Her arms were outstretched to the dragon-like figure. Her hands were glowing with the pale blue color. Then I looked up at the figure which had been just moments ago crashing to the earth.

Now it was floating over the Camp. It was surrounded in the same aura as Sonia. Sonia lowered her arms, and the figure settled softly down at the entrance to Camp. I looked around. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the dragon. I must have been the only one that saw the entire picture.

Chiron the Centaur trotted hurriedly out to the dragon. The dragon creaked and whirred and weakly lifted its head to face Chiron.

I took a good look at it. Its eyes were like dull embers, barely glowing. It spewed smoke and oil out of its mouth and nostrils. What was most prominent about it was that its frame was made of what looked like metal of some sort. I couldn't tell which metal, though, because it was so beaten up and dirty.

On the other side of Sonia, Nico stood, his shoulders tensed. I looked at him, and he nodded slightly. He too had seen the display of power that Sonia had shown. I turned to watch the dragon and the centaur.

"Festus?" wondered Chiron. "What are you doing here?"

"The better question is how are you alive?" Nico spoke up, his voice with a dangerous edge to it. "You and Leo should've died. How is LEO alive?"

The dragon twisted slowly and struggled to lift its wing. Will bounded forward and assisted Festus. He gently nudged the wing up and gasped. Then he hurried back to Chiron's side.

From under the wing, a girl emerged. She wore a tattered, white dress that must have been beautiful at an earlier time. Her cinnamon-colored hair was messy and dirty. Her almond-like eyes were puffy, and her pale face was tear-streaked.

"Calypso," Chiron said gravely.

"Ch-Chiron, you h-have to help L-Leo... Please!" The girl bit back more tears. "S-something's wrong with h-him... I d-don't know what happened..."

"Calypso," Chiron repeated. This time his tone, though still kind, was commanding. "Calm down and explain everything clearly."

At that moment, Will whisked forward carrying a blanket. He wrapped it gently around Calypso. One of his sisters from the Apollo cabin ran forward and murmured encouragement. Will returned to Chiron's side yet again. Calypso, after a few moments, heaved a big, shuddering breath and began her story.

"Leo came back to my island for me as he had promised. He got me off the island, and we soared around the world, on Festus you know, enjoying romantic dates in many different countries. Those were the best few months I had had in centuries. It felt so great to be away from Ogygia, especially since I was finally able to see the world. It was a bonus to be with such a wonderful guy." Calypso sighed dreamily as she reimagined her happy memories.

I recalled the myth about Calypso. She had been imprisoned on the island of Ogygia for assisting her father, the Titan Atlas, in a battle against the gods. No wonder she loved exploring the world; she had been cooped up on an isolated island in the middle of nowhere.

Calypso's expression turned dark. "But then... Something happened just this past trip."

She looked pitifully up at Chiron.

"We were flying over Paris, enjoying a French dinner in the evening sky. Leo was flirty and adorable as before." The Titan's daughter almost broke down at that moment, but she gulped and continued.

"But all of a sudden, he fell silent. He turned to me and something was off." Calypso shivered. "His eyes... They were pitch black..."

Sonia tensed. It seemed to be as if she knew something about the black eyes but couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"There was no light in them whatsoever... And without him making a single word or movement Festus and I were set on fire. The pain... It was worse than Tartarus... I knew had to do something so I... I... I..." The poor girl was on the verge of tears, her voice no more than a squeak. "I hurled him off of Festus' back. Festus flew as fast as he could... We were flying over America by midnight. But Leo must have survived the fall. He blasted us out of the sky, and now... Well here we are."

"Yeah, he's alive," said Nico. "I don't feel his presence in the Underworld." Nico looked at me. Oh right. I was a son of Hades too.

"I don't know who he is though," I muttered.

"Look for a son of Hephaestus with fire powers; you only have to think about his power and bloodlines." Nico instructed me gently, but he looked upset and distracted about something.

"Okay." I closed my eyes and focused. I felt a tug in my stomach. Suddenly, I saw many pale shapes, seemingly dyed different colors. I could literally see their powers. Some people had Aphrodite charmspeak, others had Athena's stormy eyes, signifying their wisdom and prowess. I could also tell, just by glancing at each one, one ghost's godly parents. I searched hard, but none matched the description, or no one recent at least.

I opened my eyes again.

"What just happened?"

"You were searching the wandering souls that haven't been judged yet," explained Nico. "You didn't see him either, did you?"

"No, at least, no ghost matched the description you guys gave me," I answered.

Calypso and Chiron exchanged gloomy looks.

"We have to find Leo," Calypso said with shaken conviction.

"Yes, I very much agree to that statement," a new female voice said. It was calm and radiated power with every word.

Everyone whipped their heads around.

A woman had appeared. She wore Greek style armor over a simple, white tunic. Her hair was dark and fell in waves below her shoulders. She carried a Greek helmet with one arm, pressing to her side. Her eyes were stormy just like the many eyes I had seen on my search.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

She smiled. "No I am not the one who is issuing a quest. You won't be able to proceed with the said quest without this bit of information I am about to give you. But first, I must congratulate a young lady for her efforts today. Without pretty little Sonia here, none of you would have even been alive."

Athena walked gracefully over to Sonia and spread her arm out to her. I scooted out of the way.

"Your mother... Well you will find out about her soon enough. For several reasons, your mother cannot do this herself. You must have broken through somehow, though, for she did aid you in your determination to save the Camp." Athena knelt down to Sonia, her eyes gleaming. "Hail, Sonia Blanchard, daughter of Hecate, the goddess of magic."

We all bowed to her. Sonia looked stunned, but not extremely shocked, as I had been. I straightened up after several moments, as did everyone else.

"Now, Sonia, are you ready for what lies ahead?" Athena asked. She seemed to know the answer to her own question, because she smiled proudly.

"I think I am." I gave Sonia the same proud smile as the wisdom goddess. I was happy that my friend was so brave. I didn't think I could possibly have responded the same way. I probably would've yelled 'Peace out Wise Owl Lady!' to the goddess and rushed out the door.

"I have taken a liking to you," Athena said. "You represent the many powerful women of the world. I will support you in everything that is going to come. You will need my wisdom to face-" She was cut off by a loud thunderclap.

"That foolish immortal. He wants to tell you who your enemy is himself. I suppose my time is up. It is best not to keep this specific quest-giver waiting. Good luck to you Sonia Blanchard." The goddess' stormy eyes twinkled. Then, Athena whipped around and disappeared in a wisp of smoke.


	10. Sonia IV

**Sonia Blanchard and the Demigods of Olympus**

**The Lost Demigod**

_**Sonia**_

**I Meet Mr. Boom Boom Number Two**

**Hey guys! I'm SUPER DUPER DUPER sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. Between being sick and all the holidays and tons of homework, I haven't had much time to work. Please forgive me all you loyal readers and know that I will be busier, but I will for sure always try to post at least once or twice within a month. To make up for the less frequent posting I will try to write longer chapters like this one. Just please note that nowadays I will be posting less frequently due to scheduling problems, and hopefully I will fix that soon. Now I must thank all my loyal readers a TON if you are still reading my new chapters. I really appreciate the support. As always, PLEASEbring your friends to this story, review, follow, favorite, and THANKS A TON if you are still reading. Bye bye for now and again my sincerest apologies. Enjoy!**

Guess who's back and ready for action? This girl! Actually, I feel absolutely, positively horrible, but don't tell Nico or Tomas that. I just landed a freaking DRAGON safely. I want the effect of my awesomeness to fully sink into those little boy brains of theirs.

Anyway, right after the Wisdom Lady vanished, I almost died by lightning. Seriously, a bolt of lightning touched down in front of me. At least it missed anything super important for life, but it chopped off one of my precious locks of hair in the process. Just kidding, I don't really care about my hair. Besides, it only took, like, three inches off. No biggie.

From the smoke rose a Greek, royal, old dude in a white toga who was holding a lightning bolt. His white mustache twitched with electricity, and his eyes flashed like lightning. Guess who? Wait, the lightning bolt was a dead giveaway wasn't it?

I was about to give him one long lecture about the whole "Watch Where You're Pointing That Thing" topic like an idiot, but, due to shock and that horrible throbbing noise in my head, I said like an even bigger idiot, "Mr. Boom Boom?"

Yeah, yeah I know. Only someone extremely stupid would call the king of freaking Olympus Mr. Boom Boom while everyone was bowing reverently at the powerful guy's feet, but I couldn't help it. I had just woken up from an unconscious slumber, and the guy had almost hit me with lightning. I don't see how any of you guys could've done any better.

Tomas, who was probably the only one there who knew what the heck I was talking about, broke down laughing beside me. The other Campers gave me incredulous looks as I joined Tomas and laughed like a madman.

I looked at Tomas out of the corner of my eye. He looked kinda cute when he laughed. He had his adorable, messy, black, close-cropped haircut and wide, chocolate brown eyes. The smile on his tan face was undeniably cute, and though he looked scrawny, he was surprisingly strong and athletic- Wait! Whoa there. Bad Sonia! Yer supposed to be getting over him!

Sorry folks. My history with Tomas is just a teeny tiny bit awkward. We'll get to that later.

Anyway, Zeus obviously wasn't amused that two teenagers were laughing at him and calling him Mr. Boom Boom.

"Miss Blanchard," he said as if trying not to blast me off to Jupiter (Roman-forme pun intended). "Please explain to me why you have so carelessly called me... Err... Mr. Boom Boom."

"You had the lightning bolt and whiskers so I kinda assumed," I responded innocently. Tomas burst out laughing his cute laugh again. Darn it!

Allow me to explain. Mr. Boom Boom is a cartoon cat. Yeah I know. How does a cartoon cat look anything like Zeus the Great and Powerful here? Lemme give you a hint: he doesn't. Mr. Boom Boom was originally thought up while I was doodling randomly. I drew an anime kitty with black whiskers, a pink nose, and a white pelt. For fun I drew him holding a tiny lightning bolt in one tiny white paw. Tomas looked over my shoulder, and thus, Mr. Boom Boom was born.

All of the Campers were staring at me as if it were my funeral. Zeus looked at me blankly for awhile, probably unsure on whether or not he should take it as an insult. Finally, after more awkward silence, he decided to let it slide.

"Behold!" Zeus thundered, all his glory back. "I am the great god of Lightning and the sky. I am the king of Olympus. I am-"

"Zeus? Yeah yeah, I gotcha."

Okay, maybe I was looking for a death wish now, or maybe that throbbing in my head was getting freaking annoying. Either way, I wished Mr. Boom Boom would just get to the point. I was tired and I wanted to sleep. It must've been freaking midnight or something, because the moon was already high in the sky. Plus that, my powers had completely drained me.

Zeus looked miffed that he didn't get to say his own name in his greatness introduction.

"Well someone's impatient."

"With all due respect, I have a feeling she's gonna beat Percy out on the annoyingness scale, sir," Nico told the sky god. It took me a moment to register that statement.

"Hey!" I said, embarrassingly late.

"Anyway, I think you know why I'm here," Zeus said. "Sonia's not the only one who likes to steal my thunder. I am here to issue a quest."

Zeus turned to Tomas.

"To this son of Hades."

Nico nudged Tomas gently towards the king of Olympus. Tomas stepped forward, looking shocked.

"But sir, why me?"

Zeus ignored the question.

"Tomas, your quest is to stop Leo at all costs," he said in his booming voice. Then his gaze softened a bit. "And to find the truth behind the disappearance of your friend's mother."

Tomas looked to me to catch me staring. I dropped my gaze, blushing furiously. Dang Sonia! When did ya get so boy-obsessed?

"What happened to her mom?" Nico asked, unsuccessfully masking the anger in his voice.

"We do not know," Zeus replied as gasps filled the air. "Whatever or whoever had the power to do this covered their tracks well. Even we Olympians couldn't find Hecate."

"Did you even try?" Nico snarled. "Knowing you, you guys must've searched for less than an hour before giving up and sitting back down on your wimpy Olympian butts again."

I didn't understand why Nico was so worked up. Getting angry over someone-who-you-just-met's mom wasn't exactly normal. I had a feeling the irritated son of Hades was getting at a different point.

Zeus glared at Nico, who just glared right back. The skies rumbled angrily overhead. The ground trembled under Nico's feet. Both radiated amazing amounts of power.

The Campers glanced back and forth between the two like it was a really good tennis match. Wait, no, it was definitely better than a really good tennis match. I personally was never really into tennis, so yeah. Much better than a stupid tennis match.

Anyway, Tomas gave me a look. I nodded back to him. We both agreed that arguing wouldn't help, and we both agreed that we should do something ridiculously stupid for old time's sake to stop it.

"Sorry to interrupt your wonderfully entertaining staring contest, but I really think it's time to quit acting like itty-bitty toddlers, and get to the freaking point," I said, smirking challengingly.

Both Zeus and Nico turned to me angrily and said, "Stay out of it!"

"Oh I'm sorry, did I offend you Mr. Boom Boom?"

"You dare call me a demeaning name like that again-"

"Hey back off! You aren't laying one wimpy Olympian finger on her!" Nico's hands curled into shadowy fists. Zeus's own hands flashed and a dozen lightning bolts were suddenly in his grip.

Before anyone could make a move, though, Tomas' right arm whipped up, and eerie cages rose from the dirt below Zeus and Nico. Within milliseconds, the two were caged in bony prisons.

"What? Tomas, cut it out!" Nico's twisted to face his younger brother through the bones of his cage. Tomas didn't reply. I noticed his forehead was beaded with sweat. He couldn't keep the cages above ground for much longer. Nico must have noticed that too.

"You're wasting your energy. When it comes to Dad's powers, I'm superior to you." Nico's eyes narrowed. The cage started to crumble back into the ground. Tomas gasped in effort to keep the cages in place.

Meanwhile, Zeus was shaking himself out of his shock. He raised one lightning bolt and was about to smash it into the side of the cage. Tomas' eyes flashed with panic.

I guessed it was my turn to play.

I reached out one hand. I was surrounded in that wicked awesome aura that I always got when I was using my powers. Nico was surrounded in the same aura, and faster than a blink I had him pinned tightly against the wall of his cage, feet hanging slightly above the ground. Tomas darted towards Zeus and, with his new black sword, sliced the bolts out of the king of Olympus' hand. Zeus and Nico both wore expressions of shock. Neither expected to be taken down so easily by their inferiors. To be honest, I thought I was skeleton chow when I saw the anger in Nico's eyes after I had pinned him.

I looked to Chiron, whose expression was horrified. Then, I noticed Nico was gasping for air. Instantly, my victorious feeling was transformed into horror as I quickly released my grip on Nico. Nico fell to the floor of his cage, holding his throat in his hands and panting. Tomas' eyes widened and he lowered the cages back into the ground. He hurried forward to help his older brother up.

Zeus was standing in his full, arrogant glory again. His eyes were filled with concern as he approached Nico.

"A couple of young, demigod children defeated an older and extremely powerful demigod and an Olympian god here today," he announced after a moment of silence. "You witness how the demigods are growing steadily in power. In fact, I believe that, now, there are demigods that are more powerful than gods and goddesses."

Chiron trotted towards Zeus, a solemn expression on his face. "Milord, what are you implying with that statement?"

Zeus' gaze was stormy with worry. He watched Tomas rub Nico on the back as Nico started to breathe evenly again. Nico's own dark eyes were fixed on Zeus with the intensity of a predator's gaze.

Zeus cleared his throat and said, "I believe that I have found the culprit behind Hecate's kidnapping and maybe even a hero's insanity."

"No!" Calypso staggered forward and spoke for the first time in awhile. "You can't be saying that..." She burst into tears again. Festus creaked forward and embraced her encouragingly with a mechanical wing.

Zeus glared sharply at all of the demigods in the clearing. They looked back silently, not following. I leaned forward, wondering what sick monster could possibly kidnap my powerful mother.

"I believe the one behind it all..."

Zeus turned to me.

"Was a demigod; one of you."

"What?" Nico stood up. He was a little bit unsteady, but defiance gleamed in his eyes. "First, you say that you idiots can't find who the villain is behind all of this. Then, you accuse US of all people. Are you out of your mind?"

"Nico, you can't just call an Olympian out of their mind." Will stepped forward coolly and gave Nico a look not to argue. Nico flushed red and sat down again. Will then turned to Zeus. "With all due respect sir, I believe that you are mistaken. How can a demigod possibly do all this damage?"

"You tell me," snorted Zeus. "You low-down rug-rats are the culprits after all."

A murmur of indignant outrage rippled through the crowd.

"Sir, I do not see any proof behind your accusation," Will said calmly.

"You question, how can a demigod possibly do all this damage? Take a look at your new friends here." Zeus gestured to Tomas and me. "These kids took down a god and a senior demigod at once. They haven't even had proper battle training."

"How is that relevant?"

"They defeated us with sheer power, and this is just the beginning of their growth. Think about how powerful they will be once they have honed their skills."

"So?"

"This generation of demigods seems to be stronger than any group of beings I have ever imagined. I have a feeling that because of that strength, it is certainly the most likely possibility that the being that kidnapped the powerful Hecate had to be a demigod."

Will forced himself to keep his cool demeanor. "But there haven't been any new demigods that have come to Camp for awhile before these two."

"I am in no way accusing any of you. In fact, I believe you are all good kids. Sonia and Tomas teamed up against Nico and me for a good reason. They really wanted to start looking for Hecate as soon as possible. I don't believe any of you would do such a thing as kidnap a goddess." Zeus gave me a look that said, _You wouldn't, would you?_ I remembered how I had almost magically strangled Nico and how I... wait, forget I said that last part. I felt a rush of guilt and bowed my head.

"It's alright." I jumped when Nico's voice rasped in my ear. He had popped up behind me in that creepy, ghost-like way, scaring the heck out of me.

"Please don't do that again!"

"Sorry. And I know you didn't mean to hurt me. You knew you had to keep us from tearing each other apart before Mr. Boom Boom finished his instructions for the quest." I smiled as he used Zeus' new nickname. "If anything, I was the one who was doing something childish and petty, while Tomas was trying to find your mom. I'm sorry Sonia."

"But I could've killed you!"

"Not if I could help it. It takes more than a mystical choke hold to bring ME into my father's realm."

I giggled slightly and turned my attention back to Zeus.

"Wait," Calypso piped up. Her eyes were round and filled with tears. "So are you saying..."

"No, I am not saying that Leo was the culprit either, though we should not say it is not a possibility. I just want my young hero here to know in some way, shape, or form who he is up against, and I really believe that the person behind all this chaos is a demigod. An extremely powerful and well-trained demigod. This will certainly be one of the toughest enemies ever faced by a demigod from Camp Half-Blood."

I felt a hand grip mine. Nico was holding onto my hand. He looked worried. His face was pained. I felt a rush of pity for the son of Hades as I noticed how scared he must have felt for his brother. I couldn't imagine how it would feel to meet my long-lost brother just to have some crazy, old, lightning dude send him off on a deadly quest to save all humanity. I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"Now, Tomas." Mr. Boom Boom was speaking again. "You obviously cannot face this threat alone. The lucky number for questers is three, so you shall bring two other people with you. That is not a request. This is real danger, and you have not had even an hour of training, so do not take this order lightly."

Tomas immediately turned to me. His eyes sparkled in the moonlight, and we both knew right at that moment that we would make the perfect couple and team. Haha, yeah right. First of all, we are TWELVE, people, and second, there is no way we are that sappy. Wait, maybe Tomas is, but I personally am not one for ridiculous love cliche scenes. Plus that, things are totally awkward between us.

Okay, he did turn to me right away, but no, there was no butterflies and no lovey-dovey looks or feelings between us.

"Hey, you ready to do this Blanchard?" Tomas said casually, smiling that annoyingly cute smile and... Dang it!

Anyway, I stepped forward, preparing to try and look like an awesome, dutiful hero, just to end up on my butt on the ground. Of course I tripped over a pebble when I'm about to embark on a noble quest. Tomas and Nico had to struggle to hold in their laughter before they helped me up.

Nico muttered in my ear, "Please take good care of my brother... And don't do that in the middle of a battle." He nodded to the pebble solemnly. "I don't think you want to be known as the hero who died valiantly to a pebble."

"Ugh, shut up."

"You won't have to worry about my caretaker tripping over pebbles, because you're coming with me, too," Tomas cut in.

"Great, so I'm Sonia's babysitter now? How much am I getting paid?"

"Well with the huge challenge plus the setting being a quest, I'd say you at least deserve $10,000."

"Ahem! Right here you know. Did you just call me a challenge?"

"Oh trust me, when you're around there's no way we couldn't know," Tomas smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

All of us chuckled. We turned to Zeus.

"Alright, sir, here's my team, ready for action."

Zeus ran his gaze over the three of us. I was surprised when he smiled and nodded.

"That's quite the team you've picked. I'll be interested to see how you do with this new quest."

The king of Olympus' eyes met mine. His expression was tough to decipher. Then he nodded at Tomas.

"My blessing goes with you, son of Hades. Good luck. I hope that you and your friends succeed. My only advice for you is to head to Paris, France where Leo was last physically seen. I have a feeling you may find some clues as to where he was headed after shooting Calypso out of the sky." Calypso cried out upon hearing Leo's name.

Calypso then turned to Zeus.

"I believe I should come with you. I probably should break the news to Hephaestus about his son."

Zeus gave her a look of sympathy and said, "I'm sure he already knows, but I still think you should come with me. It would do you good to spend some time with Hestia, after all you have been through."Again, with the hinting at something else. I then realized Calypso probably had been banished to that island by Mr. Boom Boom himself, and the lightning god must have felt bad for his actions.

Calypso must have also caught on, and she nodded gratefully.

"I will bring the dragon with also to be repaired." Zeus rested one hand on Festus' muzzle and the other on Calypso's shoulder.

Calypso smiled sadly at Tomas.

"You have the same fire in your eyes as he did," she murmured. Silent tears fell down her face. "My luck goes with you."

Zeus gave us one more respectful nod, and, with a flash, he, along with Calypso and the dragon, vanished. Chiron clopped toward us as soon as they had left.

"You should leave as soon as possible. I have already had Will pack essentials for you."

Nico walked over to the blond-haired boy and fumbled awkwardly with the bags. Will stooped down and helped the son of Hades with the bags. After recovering them from the ground, he hurried back, red faced, to where Tomas and I were standing.

"I wonder what that was about," I whispered to Tomas.

"Yeah," he whispered back. "Nico wasn't this awkward around Will when he was checking on you. I guess his worry for you pushed those thoughts out of his head for a little while."

"Wait, what?" I gasped, wide eyed, back at Tomas. "You can't possibly be implying that Nico..." I was cut off as Nico came back, blushing like crazy. I guessed it sort of made sense. He acted just like I did around Tomas.

"Well, we should probably be going," Tomas said casually. "How are we gonna get around?"

Uh oh. There was already an obstacle, and we hadn't even left the Camp gates.

Chiron pawed the ground with his hooves. "Well, normally you would find your own way around. I'm afraid we don't have any way of getting you all the way to Paris from here."

I studied Chiron's hooves, which gave me an idea. A super brilliant one this time.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry. Nico has that covered."

"I do?" Nico gave me a confused look. Then, his face paled. "Oh crap, I do."

"Well, then that's settled," Chiron said, his face showing he was pushing down several questions. "Okay, Camp, time for bed. We have a long day ahead of us. Wish good luck to our young heroes and head straight to your cabins."

The crowd dispersed. Several people nodded at us from a distance before disappearing into their cabins. Soon, we were the only people in the clearing besides Will. Will walked toward me.

"You should get something to eat since you never really had dinner. Come with me. I think I've got some leftovers in my cabin."

I left Nico and Tomas in the clearing and followed Will to his cabin. As we walked, I heard a gasp of joy and awe as well as a thud and a curse. Nico must've summoned Skia already.

Will and I arrived at his cabin. He slipped inside before coming out holding a delicious-looking sandwich in a plastic bag.

"You can eat while traveling," Will said. His mind was on something else, though, and sure enough, he continued to speak. "Nico seems to really care about you. He hasn't been this friendly to a girl that wasn't his sister."

"Well I must be really pretty then, huh?" I joked.

"Nico doesn't normally care about that."

"Oh." I understood. So this is what he wanted to talk about. "Yeah I already know."

"You do?"

"I sort of figured it out from what happened earlier with the essentials."

Will smiled.

"Yeah, there was someone else before me, too."

"So he... he really is...?"

Will nodded.

"I still can't believe that."

"Well, I just don't want him to get hurt any more than he already has been. He lost his sister when he was twelve and his mom when he was even younger, he survived going through Tartarus by himself, and he spent most of his life surviving on his own. I mean, I care about him as a friend, but I couldn't possibly do so any more than that. And yet, I really don't want him to be alone for the rest of his life." Will then gave me a look with his piercing eyes.

I never knew how much pain Nico had gone through throughout his entire life. I did just meet him of course, but still. I turned to look at him. He was bouncing around on one foot and gripping the other in his hands like a cartoon character. His brother was laughing, and Nico couldn't seem to help it but smile at his little brother's reaction. I realized the reason why Nico was so scared about losing Tomas and why he was so worried about me.

"He doesn't want to lose another sibling, huh?"

"Yeah. And in a way, I think he thinks of you as another sister of his."

For some reason, at that sentence I felt a pang.

"So, I'm just another little sister to him?" I blurted out before blushing. Oh no. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't have another Tomas. I just couldn't bear it.

Will was stunned for a second. Then he smiled a kind smile.

"Don't worry Sonia. Anything is possible in this crazy life of a demigod. Good luck, and take care of Di Angelo for me, okay?" I couldn't help but notice the faint smile playing on the son of Apollo's lips. He walked back into the cabin, leaving me to return to the guys.

As I came back to the clearing, Nico and Skia were having an angry staredown to the amusement of Tomas.

"Hey Skia," I said cheerily. "How's it going in the Underworld?"

Skia pranced up to me and nudged me into Tomas. Tomas stumbled back to catch me.

"Whoa there," he said. "Are you alright Sonia?"

Skia neighed and rubbed up against the two of us. I pressed one hand on her nose and petted her gently. Tomas patted the ghost horse on her flank, and she nickered happily.

"Okay for some crazy reason, Skia seems to like Tomas. I thought she didn't like sons of Hades!" Nico grumbled to me with a mock irritated expression on his face. "She stepped on my foot! And to think I saved her from the hellhounds."

Skia whinnied indignantly and pawed the ground. I settled my hand and surrounded her in my aura to understand her. Now that's a sentence I never thought I would say in my lifetime.

"She says she only likes Tomas because he was polite to her when she first met him."

"But that's because she actually gave him a chance to come near her when she first met him."

"Maybe you're just not appealing to female horses."

"I am very appealing to... wait what?"

Tomas, Skia, and I laughed as Nico gave me an incredulous look.

"Why the heck would I want to be appealing to some stupid horse?"

"Because she's our ride," I said as I hopped on Skia's back behind Tomas. "Say sorry to her and hop on already you proud, shadowy goofball." I felt myself blush as I teased Nico gently in the way I would normally tease Tomas. Great, now I have a hopeless crush on two sons of Hades.

"Fine. I'm sorry AGAIN Skia." Nico apologized grudgingly to the ghost horse and grabbed my outstretched hand. I helped him onto the horse, hiding my blushing face in my hair.

"Err, are you alright Sonia?" Tomas asked me as Nico settled himself on the horse.

That's when I realized how weird a twelve-year-old girl looks when she hides her face in her hair while helping a fourteen-year-old boy onto a ghost horse.

"Nah, it's nothing," I said, flustered. Then I patted Skia on the back. "Alright. Are you ready guys?"

"Yeah! Let's do this!" Tomas yelped joyfully, raising one fist in the air. I giggled and raised one fist too.

"C'mon, Nico! Join the party!" I turned to Tomas' older brother. "Please?" I added with a small smile.

Nico looked into my eyes before sighing and slowly raising one fist.

Skia reared, taking Nico off guard and almost knocking him off her back before charging into the forest outside Camp and into the shadows.

The last thing I remembered before we entered shadow-travel mode was Tomas and me, cheering and laughing, and Nico yelling "I hate horses!" at the top of his lungs.

What a beautiful start to a beautiful quest, don't ya think?


End file.
